Thanks for visiting the Finto File. On this blog I'll be showing you some of my published writing; displaying a good photograph or two; serving up large helpings of political views; delving deeply into law enforcement issues; writing an occasional love letter to New York City; and touching lightly yet brilliantly on music, art, literature, sports and other cultural matters. Your comments welcomed. (All text and photographs copyright 2017 by George Molé.)

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Op-Ed: NYPD Hero Represented Real New Yorkers

Less than a mile from the now-hallowed
location on East 183rd Street where Detective Miosotis Familia lost
her life is the five-story Bronx walkup where I was raised. Both are in
troubled neighborhoods near the Grand Concourse, the faded but still regal
boulevard lined with Art Deco architecture that once symbolized middle-class
elegance.Coming of age in the Bronx,
I knew that most of its residents were workers and strivers, people trying to
get bills paid and kids schooled, and maybe get a little bit ahead tomorrow or
next year or someday. That remained true even as communities “changed”—to use the
standard euphemism—with many of the long-time Irish-American and Jewish and
Italian-American residents finding better lives in the suburbs as the old
neighborhoods sank into violence and squalor.And it was still true later
when I worked those same and similar areas on an EMS ambulance or wearing an
NYPD uniform. To the casual observer, the rough crowd loitering on the streets at
all hours may seem to be the face of the neighborhood; but the people who really
make the community work are less visible, seen only when trudging to or from
bus stops or subway stations on their daily or nightly commutes, or holding
their children’s hands on the walk between home and school.One of New York’s best-kept
secrets is the high level of support for law-enforcement by residents of
crime-afflicted predominantly-minority neighborhoods. In my years serving such communities,
I’ve rarely attended a public meeting or had a conversation where folks
demanded that cops be less assertive; almost invariably, they implore the
police to address the quality-of-life issues that plague them, and to remove
the hoodlums and drug-dealers from their hallways, from in front of their
buildings, and from the parks where their kids play. And they are thrilled when
they see results.But those who appreciate the
police don’t get much press, sadly, being too busy taking care of their
families to become protesters or activists. And, perhaps, because they don’t
fit the anti-cop narrative that dominates so much of the media. They’re just
ordinary New Yorkers.We all know now, of course,
having learned much about her since her death, that Det. Familia was an
ordinary New Yorker herself, striving to support and nurture her family as a
working mother in the Bronx.

Det. Familia’s wake and
funeral took place at the World Changers Church, which occupies the old Loew’s
Paradise Theatre on the Concourse, one of New York’s stunningly ornate
golden-age movie palaces. The name of the church, and its majestic setting,
were fit for laying to rest a warrior queen whose example may yet change the
world.

At a Sunday vigil in front
of the nearby 46th Precinct, and the next day at her wake, the
community was out in numbers to pay respects, holding up candles at the vigil
or lined up for hours to file past her casket in the church. And on the day of
her funeral, as thousands of cops from across the world filled the Concourse
for a final salute, and police helicopters and motorcycles shook the wide
boulevard, the people were there too, coming out to say goodbye to a martyred
protector who was also an ordinary New York woman.

A tradition at a police
funeral in our city is that the legendary NYPD Pipes and Drums, making no sound
but a muffled drumbeat, their instruments covered in mourning drapes, leads the
procession as it leaves the church, bound for the cemetery where the hero will
rest. But when they’ve keened a farewell dirge, and the procession is on its
way, the band turns and parades back again, past the rows of mourners, bringing
renewed spirit with them. And so they marched strong up
the Concourse on that Tuesday, swagger back in their step, wailing old songs of
lament and resilience—“Hard Times Come Again No More,” prays one—into the weary
Bronx streets.

We prevail, the music says; death
doesn’t win. We’re better because she lived, and because we knew her, and
stronger for what we’ve endured.She lived, we knew her, and
we endured. Good reasons to work for a better, stronger city.

2 Comments:

Well said Mr. Mole, very positive but I fear the neighborhood in question is lost to eternity, that is until and unless government masterminds stop trying to manipulate outcomes. The welfare state is a proven failure, we have gone well beyond a reasonable safety net, the more government gives, the worse life gets for contributors. God Bless Detective Familiar and all those who serve the comunity. JW

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About Me

George Molé works in law enforcement in New York City. He is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the New York Daily News, the New York Post, The New York Times and other publications. He holds a BA in history from Lehman College of the City University of New York (CUNY), and an MA (2010) in criminal justice from John Jay College/CUNY, where he was awarded the prestigious Claude Hawley Medal for scholastic distinction. George is a member of Alpha Phi Sigma, the national criminal justice honor society; a trustee of the New York State Shields, a law-enforcement fraternal organization; and a member of Ring 10, an organization that assists veteran boxers. George has appeared on such broadcasts as the Bob Grant, Curtis Sliwa and Tony Paige radio programs, and on Court TV. On this blog George does not speak for his employer or any organization he is affiliated with; all opinions are solely his own. George can be reached at FintoFile@aol.com.